Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Been experimenting lately with figured wood. We can't be certain folks in medieval times didn't use figured woods, but we do know that maple was at least, available.
Been a nice learning curve figuring out how to stain the wood, yet, be sure to bring out the chatoyance, or, the shimmer in the wood, that makes it so beautiful.
Part of this is staining, then sanding, and repeat until you reach the shade that you like. I found that TransTint has a lovely amber color.

First attempt, using the directions given on the tint, gave me to understand that a flat surface and a round bow, are two quite different things.

So, using a brush to apply the stain, and then, the shellac, did not work with the round bow.
That led to inconsistent staining and the finish.

Second try, using the stain in water, apply with a rag, rubbing it gently in, letting dry, sanding, repeat until color desired, then finish with a tung oil, worked much better for me.

That came out to be a nice bow!

Here is a shot of the tail end of the tiger maple Maximilan bow I made for a client.
Quite the lovely bow, it is.

Trekked to the lumber yard last week, to look for another bit of the flame maple, but, no joy.
While there was a bit there, it looked to have nowhere near the fugure of the last bit I got, so passed. Will keep looking.
Have yet two stocks rough cut of this board, another Maximilian, and a Danish/musket ended bow. Can't wait to get the time to finish these two.